IS IT TRUE May 20, 2013
IS IT TRUE Mole #5 tells the City County Observer that one of the things being considered by the City of Evansville to raise more money to cover the shortfalls in the budget is to install “techno cops†at intersections?…what we have chosen to call “techno cops†are those camera plus radar set-ups that are mounted in some cities to measure drivers speed, check the cars position when the light turns from yellow to red, and snap pictures of the license plate and the driver for the purpose of collecting fines?…Evansville of course is a town that has stop lights so old that the bulbs are not even manufactured anymore and in general is quite barren when it comes to technology?…these “techno cops†were pioneered in Europe where the people are much more willing to tolerate “Big Brother†tactics like “techno copsâ€?…there have been many studies done on the effectiveness of “techno cops†in making traffic safer?…the conclusions are that traffic does not get safer and in some cases the number of wrecks increase because people are concentrating more on the “techno cop†than they are on traditional driving?…drivers in cities patrolled by “techno cops†are more prone to slam on the breaks when the light is yellow causing themselves to be rear ended and sometimes hospitalized for whiplash?
IS IT TRUE the one thing that “techno cops†do with brutal efficiency is write tickets thus collecting more money for the cities that own them to spend?…the other winners in this “Big Brother†initiative are insurance companies that raise premiums for getting tickets and of course trial lawyers who rush to the aid of anyone who gets rear ended or chooses to pursue a Quixotic fight to beat the ticket?…the first “techno cop†was installed in Los Angeles in the mid 1990s?…the first night of its operation a car drove by very slowly so as not to have its picture taken and blasted the “techno cop†to pieces with a shotgun?…there have been other such instances but for the most part people in “techno cop†cities have accepted the yoke of having their driving invaded by Big Brother?…â€techno cops†like it or not do take away just a little bit more of our freedom and move us one step closer to being government controlled robots?…the flip side of that argument is of course that running that stop sign or speeding is breaking the law and that this is simply a better and more efficient way to enforce existing laws?…we suppose that is true but there is something about “techno cops†that just rub us the wrong way?…the next advance of course is likely to be having your home life monitored visually and audibly through those cameras on the new Smart TVs over the internet to make sure you break no laws inside your own home?…the arguments and the intrusion will be the same?
IS IT TRUE that Mole #33 tells the CCO that massive changes may be on the table for the downtown Convention Hotel deal that has grown under Mayor Winnecke from a $31 Million project to a $70 Million project with every bell and whistle imaginable including apartments and retail shops?…the massive changes we are hearing about are to strip this thing down to what it was in the first place and reduce the number of rooms to 180 as the study indicated that downtown Evansville can actually absorb?…local government subsidizing one business at the expense of another is a market killing action that undermines the American way of life?…for this reason we applaud the members of the City Council who are reluctant to become rubber stamps for Mayor Winnecke?…it is a good thing if this project loses the apartments and the retail space?…reducing the size of the hotel to what the market study suggested is a good idea too?…a very excellent idea would be for the City of Evansville to stick to traditional incentives like providing excellent sidewalks, sharing in the cost of walk bridges that access public venues, waiving permit fees, and letting the private developer complete the task with the workforce of their choosing as opposed to being forced to sign a Project Labor Agreement (PLA)?…when it comes to private commerce like inn keeping, running a restaurant, or retail real estate development local government should stick to its job of supplying good infrastructure around the private developments and stay out of the banking business?
I don’t want non union, unskilled, possibly even illegal workers making $8/hr building any hotel I’d want to stay in. That’s what you’re proposing in the labor free for all you mentioned in the last paragraph.
When you go away, do you check to see who built the hotel you stay in?
Working without a PLA does not keep a developer from hiring union labor or paying a living wage. What it does is leave the option open to hire non union workers. Now what could possibly be wrong with allowing a developer the freedom to hire who he chooses as opposed to forcing them to hire from the very groups that make big campaign contributions with their earnings.
Eliminating the PLA takes a little piece of corruption out of local government. I doubt that you have much understanding of such things so try to learn from this.
Just another way to hire inferior cheap labor and put more money in the hands of the contractors, which I suppose never make any campaign contributions hmmm?
By the way John Doe and Georgia Hoosier, the CCO has encouraged the City Council to make it illegal for any politician to take money from contractors or labor including their owners. It is the only way to be fair to the people of the city and keep their money from being laundered through projects into political coffers.
I’d support that.
If this does not turn out to be profit for the few it would be a miracle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
stupid reply, nothing said about 8.00 hour labor
This “Techno Cops” idea looks like another stupid idea of City Council person Dan Adams.
I also hear that big tax and spend left winger Dan Adams is also pushing to have speed bumps installed throughout the city. How many of millions of tax dollars will this cost us?
He is making Weaver and Mosby look extremely bright.
That’s odd , I heard if gunpowder was brains Messy Beaver still couldn’t blow their nose
“….local government subsidizing one business at the expense of another is a market killing action that undermines the American way of life?…”
You are wrong in this case. The City Administration would love for a local hotel business owner/developer to get involve in building the needed downtown hotel. For whatever reason the local hotel business owner/developer have decided to set on the sidelines bitch. They are likely not getting involved because even with the City gifts to this downtown hotel project, it will be hard to turn a profit.
Are they just now doing core samples at the hotel site? Shouldn’t this been done a long time ago to see if the site is suitable for the plans that were developed? Or how much more it would eventually cost to stabilize the building on this property if needed?
Scaling this project down is yet another terrible idea. Either build the entire project or don’t build any of it. Taking the retail, apartments, and condos out will just make it all the harder for the hotel to be self-sustaining. That goes for the whole district as well.
This is now heading in the same direction as that awful museum expansion project which started out great but has now been scaled down in similar fashion. We have a half baked museum project, a half baked arena, and a half baked hotel project already. I would be oh so nice to see something actually built right the first time.
Let’s blow off this whole idea of a Ford Arena hotel and send the tourists to the motels in Henderson. With one or two exceptions the restaurants in Henderson are better than the ones in Evansville.
This development would add to the vacancies downtown. I am in favor of the hotel only concept, with a scaling down of the city’s subsidy for it.
When the proposed developments of sites, such as the old Farmer’s Daughter building and the McCurdy and others is completed, then we may want to consider adding an apartment/condo wing to the hotel, but not until then.
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